Cut Resistant Clothing for Law Enforcement

Thousands of men and women put their lives on the line every single day to keep our country safe. These brave law enforcement officers along with correctional officers are at constant risk. They deal with those members of the public who may be dangerous, unpredictable, intoxicated, or mentally unstable.

For many years, protective gear was made from leather. While this offers more protection than wearing nothing, leather is heavy, uncomfortable and doesn’t adequately protect from slashing.

Officers on patrol are likely to wear bulletproof vests. However, these won’t protect many other vital areas of your body, such as the arteries located in the wrist, neck, and arms. A strategic cut to any of these arteries could prove to be fatal.

And as a prison guard, slashing is the most likely form of attack. In fact, prison guards have the most dangerous job in the country, resulting in hundreds of injuries each year. In 2013, 15 correctional officer fatalities occurred.

Many officers will wear a cut resistant shirt, pants or long johns under their uniform or vest.

Healthcare Safety

Those serving patients in hospitals shouldn’t be at risk. However, nurses, physicians, and other staff members working in the healthcare field are subject to attacks on a regular basis.

And the reporting of violence is voluntary in a medical environment. So the number of verbal and physical attacks is likely much higher than anyone realizes.

People are often at their worst when admitted to the hospital as a patient, as they have experienced mental and physical trauma. As a result, stress, anxiety, and the possibility of lashing out against healthcare workers aren’t uncommon.

Violence takes many forms in a hospital. But one of the most concerning is with punctures from objects like needles and slashes from knives as they are easy to conceal.

While puncture from a needle might not cause serious injury, the risk of infection is extremely high.

Many healthcare workers believe that violence against healthcare employees is on the rise. In response, the use of cut and puncture resistant clothing, worn under scrubs, should be commonplace.

Safety Around the Mentally Unstable

Those who work with mentally unstable patients should consider cut resistant clothing as well. Patients enrolled in rehab or who live in group housing for those with mental disorders can be unpredictable. Scratching a caretaker is a common occurrence.

Bites aren’t uncommon either, especially for those who work with children. Childcare workers who are helping children that suffer from behavioral disorders should consider bite resistant clothing. Particularly on the forearms where a bite is more likely.

This can even include school teachers. 6% of school teachers are attacked annually by students. For younger children, there’s a good chance they will try biting or scratching their teacher.

Children can easily break the skin and the risk of an infection increases and medical attention is required immediately. Teachers working with children who have special needs or autism should wear bite resistant arm guards or shirts.

If you are a teacher or childcare worker who notices a child with self-inflicted bruises and scratches on their arms from biting or scratching, they can wear kid-friendly arm guards for protection.

 

Emergency Responders

Emergency responders spend a lot of time handling car accidents. Helping victims exit damaged vehicles often means handling broken glass and sharp metal.

In order to do your job and save lives, you can’t be getting cut up on the debris. Cut resistant gloves and slash resistant clothing from head to toe will allow emergency responders to move around the scene of an accident more fluidly, without risking unnecessary harm.

Preventing Accidents on the Job Site

There are many occupations where hands are at risk of lacerations and punctures. This is especially true in construction or manufacturing environments when using heavy machinery and sharp tools. Cut resistant work gloves are a must.

Sustaining an injury to your hand could mean that you can’t complete your job for many weeks, or even months, as you recover. This is especially true if you lose a finger.

Unfortunately, thousands of people suffer from severed fingers each year. In some cases, fingers can be surgically restored. But steps should be taken to prevent this from ever happening in the first place.

Wearing cut resistant shirts and pants can protect you from the many threats found on construction sites and in manufacturing plants, such as sharp tools that were stored improperly, to thin metal sheets, nails, blades, saws, and much more.

Wearing the right clothing on the job can ensure you get to go home after your shift instead of the hospital.

Should You Wear Cut Resistant Clothing?

There are many types of PPE that would offer adequate levels of protection in many circumstances. But the best gear is also the most noticeable. It’s large, heavy, bulky, and immediately alarms others around them.

You don’t always want to draw unnecessary attention to yourself. So modern cut resistant clothing is a better option. Many modern options of shirts, jackets, pants, and shorts look like casual civilian clothing.

These designs will provide peace of mind in unstable environments without causing a commotion.

Prioritizing Safety

Thousands of people across the country, in many different industries, are at risk of slashing or stabbing injuries and it is in your best interest to protect yourself in any way that you can.

By wearing cut resistant clothing, you can do your part by preparing for the worst, even as you hope for the best.

You can browse our full selection of tactical and civilian protective clothing to ensure each day on the job is as safe as possible.